Orange County murders up 20% in 2011

Law-enforcement officers investigated 89 murders in 2011

Fifty-six names are written neatly on a dry-erase board inside the homicide sergeant's office at the Orange County Sheriff's Office.

It's the board detectives use to keep track of people murdered this year, along with the day they died and the suspects accused of ending their lives.

The Orlando Police Department keeps a similar board that lists 28 names. There are three more victims in Eatonville and two in Apopka.

In all, 89 people have been murdered in Orange County in 2011 — a 20 percent increase over last year. The most dramatic increase occurred in Orlando, where 10 more people have been killed than last year. More than a third of those slayings were because of domestic violence.

What those boards don't tell are the details of each death. Investigators remember those.

"They are not just numbers. They are humans, and they have families," said Orlando Chief Paul Rooney, who became the city's top cop in June. "We are very concerned about their families because everyone suffers with a homicide."

One of those heartbreaking homicides happened in March with the death of 3-year-old Noah Fake, who deputies say was beaten and left to die while his mother, Robin Greinke, and her boyfriend Steven Neil ate pizza and watched a movie.

The two are charged with first-degree murder, aggravated manslaughter of a child and aggravated child abuse.

During a ceremony earlier this year to remember murder victims, Detective Chris Dillon hugged Noah's father, who sobbed at the memory of his only son.

It has not been an easy year for Orange County homicide detectives, who have struggled to close cases. More than half of the 2011 murders are unsolved. A significant number are drug-related.

"When you get a lot of drug [-related] homicides, that is what happens: no cooperation," said Lt. Paul Zambouros, who oversees the sheriff's homicide unit. "The detectives do a phenomenal job day in and day out. They've solved cases that seemed impossible."

He points to the Feb. 9 shooting death of Jason Rodriguez, lured to an east Orange County home by someone he met on Facebook.

Investigators had to follow a technological trail to find their suspect, Israel Nieves, who they say was jealous of Rodriguez because he was dating Nieves' ex-girlfriend. According to deputies, 18-year-old Nieves killed Rodriguez after creating fake phone numbers and online profiles in the guise of a woman, hoping to catch Rodriguez cheating.

Nationally, the clearance rate for homicides hovers in the 60 percent range, according to FBI records. The clearance rate for Orange County detectives was 45 percent this year.

For a second year in a row, Orlando detectives have closed more than 80 percent of their cases. Only four of the 28 murders are unsolved.

The reason for many of this year's murders are unknown, but most result from robberies, drugs, domestic violence or fighting. Here are some examples:

Motive: Robbery

Matthew Manolas was taking a break Jan. 21 during his midnight shift as a cabdriver when he was fatally shot by one of three men who intended to rob him, according to police.

Surveillance cameras inside the cab captured the attack on video as three men ambushed the 35-year-old father. A friend later found Manolas slumped in his vehicle in the 500 block of Lake Highland Drive, behind Lake Highland Preparatory School. Manolas was one of two drivers for Mears Transportation Group to be killed within 10 days. The slayings were unrelated.

Luis Melgar-Briones, 22, was stabbed to death and left in the woods in east Orange County after what Orange detectives described as a drug deal and robbery scheme gone wrong May 25.

Deputies found the body in woods near Goldenrod and Curry Ford roads and later arrested 19-year-old Michael Borgos and 24-year-old Juan Carlos Serrano on first-degree-murder charges. Borgos has since pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and will be sentenced later in 2012.

A witness told investigators that Melgar-Briones agreed to sell Serrano cocaine in exchange for a cellphone with a later cash payment. When Melgar-Briones returned to collect his money, Serrano and his friend Borgos devised a plan to rob him, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Motive: Domestic Violence

Carry Dorcelus' last moments were spent clinging to her young child as she tried to flee her ex-boyfriend, Orange County detectives said.

The 28-year-old woman was shot and killed while holding the child outside her apartment on Metro Place Boulevard on June 30. Her killer, Samuel Joseph, 28, walked inside the unit and killed himself.

The couple's 5-year-old son stood nearby and watched his parents' violent deaths. Neither of the children was injured.